Shadow Puppet
by Insanity Prelude
Summary: I am Riku, best friend for always of Sora and Kairi, unsuspecting puppet of the darkness. This is my story... Discontinued. Also, old, so I wouldn't really call it quality fic.
1. Prologue

Shadow Puppet

By DClick, fangirl AND annoyer of Riku-kun ^^

Authoress's Notes 

Heh… I've had this idea for a while, actually. But only now (with four other fics in progress- yep, I've started writing a certain sequel- and writer's block on three of them) did I actually decide to write it, because while half-asleep trying to get rid of a headache I found the perfect way to start the fic. ^^ I think I'm finally making some progress getting rid of the evil writer's block demon…

Hmm. I haven't written anything in first-person POV for ages (and I've never written a fic that way). This should be interesting.

Disclaimer (Evil Lawyers, meet Darkside. Darkside, meet Evil Lawyers. Have fun!): I don't own Kingdom Hearts (damn. That means I don't own Shadows. *huggles one… they're cute and cuddly! ^^* Or Riku-kun. *glompeth* *gets hit with the Dark Keyblade* owwie…). I don't own anything else either, except my insane mind and the writer's block demon currently tied to the fan. lol

I don't know about Sora, but right about now I have to doubt whether Kingdom Hearts is light.

OK, that was lame. But seriously, it doesn't look like it… I hate it here. _This_ is the heart of all worlds? It's nothing but cold gray rock broken up by huge cracks, and you can't see the sky (I'm not sure how this place is lit up, however dimly. The only things around here that glow are the Heartless's eyes, and there's no sunlight.)- it's like living in a huge cave. If you look down into the gaps between the chunks of rock, the Heartless's glowing yellow eyes stare up at you- don't get me wrong, they don't scare me, but it's a creepy effect.

Oh yeah, and did I mention there's no food or water? It's a good thing we don't seem to need it here. ("We" being me, and King Mickey.)

Stuck in a gloomy old cave with only Heartless and a mouse for company. If I'd known things were going to turn out this way…

If I'd known things were going to turn out this way…

If I'd known things were going to turn out this way, I'd still have done what I did. It was all for Kairi. And Sora, but mostly Kairi. At least they're safe, somewhere, and probably a lot happier than I am.

I kicked a pebble over the cliff. I didn't hear it hit the bottom, but there was an annoyed squeak from the bottom- probably hit a Heartless. Like I cared. I walked along the edge of the cliff, looking down into the shallow canyon between chunks of rock. As usual, it was scattered with dots of yellow light- the Heartless's eyes, the only part of them you could see in the darkness. The chasms that broke up the smooth gray terrain of Kingdom Hearts couldn't be that deep, now that I thought about it… the eyes didn't look too far away. Maybe sometime I would climb down there, just to see what was at the bottom besides Heartless… and if they didn't like it, so what? Heartless didn't scare me before, and they sure as hell didn't now.

A Darkside shook its gigantic fist at me as I walked by. I recognized it- it had a scar on its face from a while back, when it was stupid enough to attack me. I may have lost the Dark Keyblade, but I did still have the short sword which hung at my side now, the gem on the blade resembling a dragon's eye, the blade itself red, blue, and silver with a wicked jagged edge.

I stuck my tongue out at the Darkside, then laughed quietly, surprised at myself for being so childish. The Darkside responded by holding up a certain finger.

"Bite me," I muttered, walking on.

I would have killed all the Heartless here given half a chance, but it was no use- they always seemed to come back. Even King Mickey wasn't sure why, and surprisingly, he actually knew a lot about the Heartless and darkness and all that crap. Though, he could never know the darkness as I had, slowly consumed by it without realizing what was happening to me in my effort to save Kairi, almost lost completely to it.

You don't use the darkness. It uses you. I know this all too well now.

But, I'm still not afraid of it. Angry, yes, hate it, very much so, but I'm not afraid of the darkness. There was never a lot that I truly feared… perhaps even less now, after going through so much. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

I wondered once again how Sora and Kairi were doing. They were probably back on the islands now, enjoying the sunshine, trying to have a normal life again even though there was no way they could forget all that had happened any more than I could (though I probably got the worst part of the deal).

We can never forget.

_Take care of her._ Those were my last words to Sora, and I don't doubt he will. Me and Sora both liked Kairi- a lot- but over time it became obvious who her heart belonged to. I was jealous, and I have to admit perhaps part of the reason I wanted so badly to save Kairi was to impress her, but… she and Sora should be happy together, right? There's probably a girl for me somewhere, if not on the islands then somewhere else. (One thing's for sure, Selphie is _not_ that girl. She was so annoying!) God knows enough of them like me. heh heh…

… I wasn't sure why I chose now to think about girls. I might not even ever get out of here! _No, Riku, don't think that way. You're cool, you're smart, you'll think of _something_… right?_ I tried to reassure myself. _Where there's a will, there's a way, right?_

I didn't have any escape plans yet, though. More than once I'd tried to just force my way through the door, but no matter what I did it wouldn't budge. I tried to get Mickey to unlock it- he has a Keyblade, after all- but he wouldn't. Even if he would, it probably wouldn't have worked anyway, the way my luck's been going. I mean, it _did_ take him _and_ Sora (and me… _why the hell didn't I get out from behind the door before I helped shut it?!_ I'd asked myself that many times by now.) to lock it in the first place.

All I could do about this situation was nothing, and it was driving me nuts.

I looked down into the chasm again, almost as if expecting one of the Heartless blinking up at me to suddenly gain the ability to speak, to tell me exactly what to do. (Like they would, even if they could talk!)

With a resigned sigh, I sat down at the edge of the gap. Maybe I'd have a plan tomorrow. I reflected again on how I ended up in this Heartless-infested hellhole in the first place… 

I am Riku, best friend for always of Sora and Kairi, unsuspecting puppet of the darkness.

This is my story.

A/N: Yes, Riku does swear fairly often in my fics, particularly when ticked off (as he is in this chapter ^^). I'm the same way. o.O Hmm.

That's chapter 1… the narrative of the game's storyline itself starts next chapter, this is just a prologue. Reviews, please! ^^ (Flames will be fed to this Red Nocturne that's been following me around. o.O Red Nocturne: ^^)


	2. The Storm

Authoress's notes: AGH! Get back here! chases the writer's block demon, which managed to get untied somehow, around the room

Shady and that Red Nocturne from last chapter's notes: watches, looking amused  
Ahem. I've had writer's block again… I took a little break from writing in hopes of getting rid of it. -- 

I made a couple little changes to the first chapter- nothing major, just fixed a couple things, made a couple sentences clearer, y'know?

thingies separate Riku's memories from what he's doing in the present. Just thought I'd mention that.

The story, or at least my part in it, begins at the Destiny Islands. They were (and still are, even if I'm worlds away from them) my home, but I wasn't satisfied with staying there.

Ansem once called the islands "a prison surrounded by water". And I hate to say it, but I agreed with him. Don't get me wrong, they're a great place- but they're an isolated great place, out in the middle of nowhere, and when you know that there has to be so much more out there you can't help but start to feel trapped.

I'd wanted to see the other worlds ever since Kairi came. Me and Sora would often ask what her home was like, but she didn't remember- only that it was "another world". That started me thinking. _There **has** to be more than this. More places to see and explore… I want to see what all I'm missing, stuck here._

I remember when she first showed up on the islands. She just… appeared one day, really- that's the only way I can find to put it. The mayor and his wife took her in.

Kairi never told us exactly _how_ she got to the islands, either. Again, she "didn't remember". Back then, I thought traveling between the worlds was simple- that you could sail across the ocean and find yourself in another world. We didn't know that the worlds were cut off from each other then.

I paused in my reflection. Hmm. If travel between the worlds was supposedly impossible then, how _did_ Kairi arrive on the Destiny Islands? Just another question for me to wonder about, since there wasn't anything else to do around here besides fight Heartless- and that was pointless since they always came back. Kingdom Hearts was where they first spawned; the Heartless would probably live here until the end of time.

I'd spend countless hours sitting in the paopu tree, staring out at the waves and just thinking: about what I did that day, Tidus and Wakka's futile attempts to get a blitzball team together on the island, Sora and Kairi, other worlds… anything that came to mind.

The tree was also one of my, Sora, and Kairi's favorite places to just hang out and talk. It was where we first got the idea for the raft.

Building a raft was actually Sora's idea. I remember that evening perfectly. It was sunset, and the three of us were at the paopu island, as usual. Sora was hanging upside down from the tree branch, Kairi was sitting on the branch, and I was leaning against the tree trunk because there was only room on the branch for two of us. As I often did, I eventually ended up bringing up the subject of other worlds.

"You know, maybe instead of just standing around here wondering what might be out there, we should try to get to another world," I remarked.

"Yeah, but how?" Kairi asked.

"I dunno… take the boats?" I was referring to the old rowboats we used to get from the main island where the town was to the "playground island" (Tidus's name for the island us and the other kids hung out at most of the time).

"No, they're too small… especially since we'd have to bring food and stuff too," said Kairi.__

"Maybe we could build a raft or something to put the supplies on and tie it to one of the boats," Sora suggested.

"Nah, I don't think one of the boats could pull it, and that'd slow us down too much. But a raft… that's actually a good idea," I admitted. "If we can find enough logs and stuff, we can build a raft big enough for all three of us…"

"Then it's a plan- ack!" Sora slipped off the branch, landing on his back in the sand and making me and Kairi laugh.

"Alright," I said. "We start building the raft tomorrow. But… don't tell anyone, okay? Or they'll all want to come with us."

"Okay."

I fell asleep that night dreaming of the places we'd see. They were nothing like the worlds we actually ended up going to.

The next morning, I walked down the beach in search of Kairi and Sora, carrying a log I'd found near the cove that would work well for the raft. I spotted them sitting at the water's edge, and a bit of their conversation drifted to my ears.

"Well, I'm happy here," Kairi said cheerfully.

"Really…" Sora sounded skeptical.

"But you know... I wouldn't mind going to see it."

_Hmm… They're probably talking about Kairi's home._

"I'd like to see it too. Along with any other worlds out there! I

want to see 'em all!"

"So what're we waiting for?"

I think you can guess what they were talking about.

"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?" Grinning, I strolled over to them. "So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." Just to emphasize my point, I tossed the log to Sora. He tried to catch it, but just ended up being knocked over. Geez, it wasn't that heavy, was it?

I glanced at Kairi. "And you're just as lazy as he is!" I joked.

"So you noticed." She giggled. She's so cute when she does that… Anyway. She jumped to her feet. "Okay, we'll finish it together. I'll race you!"

Sora blinked. "Huh?"

"What, are you kidding?" I sat down on the warm sand as well. Of course, I was just joking around- a race sounded like fun. Especially since I could easily win.

Kairi wasn't taking "no", even an insincere "no", for an answer. "Ready? Go!"

I caught Sora's eye, he grinned at me, and we both jumped to our feet and took off towards the cove where we'd be building the raft.

We actually got most of it finished that day. Tomorrow we'd be putting the finishing touches on it, and gathering food, and then we'd be able to leave the day after that. The three of us were pretty damn proud of ourselves for getting so much done already as we relaxed at the paopu island that evening.

"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked.

"Could be. We'll never know by staying here," I replied. How many conversations had started like this? I'd lost count.

"But how far could a raft take us?"

My mind was set. "Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else."

"So, suppose you get to another world," Kairi said. "What would you do there?"

"Well, I haven't really thought about it," I admitted. "It's just... I've always wondered why we're here, on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

Sora lay back against the branch, looking up at the clear sky. "I don't know."

"That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go." I didn't take my eyes off the ocean as I spoke. It seemed endless.

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi remarked.

I smiled at her. "Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks."

Kairi did her trademark giggle. "You're welcome." Sora glared at me.

The sun was setting; it was about time we went home. Mom was making her famous pizza for dinner, and I'd invited Sora and Kairi over.

"Sora." I tossed him one of the yellow, star-shaped fruits that grew on the paopu tree. He caught it, looking bewildered. "You wanted one, didn't you?" I asked. Really, I was teasing him. After we'd finished talking about the raft, Sora mentioned that he wished he knew what the paopu fruits tasted like- he didn't know the legend.

"A paopu fruit..."

He was probably the only one on the island that _didn't_ know the legend of the paopu fruit, in fact. "If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives- no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it," I teased, knowing he'd probably want to share one with Kairi.

Or maybe he didn't get the meaning (and now that I think about it, that _did_ sound a bit funny.). "What are you talking-"

I laughed and ran past him. He threw the fruit into the ocean and followed.

We'd agreed to meet at the cove the next day. Kairi had wandered off to collect shells by the time Sora got there.

"Sorry I took so long," he said. "I overslept, and Tidus wanted to duel me, and-"

"No problem," I interrupted. "The raft's almost finished. It needs a name."

"Yeah! How about… um… Excalibur."

"I like Highwind better."

"How about-"

"The usual?"

Kairi ran across the rickety bridge connecting the sections of land. "You guys at it again? All right, I'll be the judge. The usual rules apply: Take any route you want... First one to tag that tree and make it back here wins."

"If I win, I'm captain! And if you win..." Sora looked at me expectantly.

This was a perfect opportunity. "I get to share the paopu with Kairi."

"Huh?" The look on Sora's face was hilarious.

I couldn't help grinning smugly. "Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi."

"Wha... Wait a minute..."

Either Kairi hadn't heard us, realized I was joking, or didn't really mind the thought of me sharing a paopu with her. "Okay. On my count…"

Of course, I won the race. Sora might have had a chance if he hadn't tripped over his own shoes.

That afternoon, I was on my way to the dock where we tied up our boats. As I passed the gap in the tree roots that opened into the "secret place", someone behind me spoke:

"Come here, boy."

I whirled around, startled. There hadn't been anyone there a minute ago!

The speaker was a tall man, wearing a long black hooded robe that obscured his features.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" I asked, taking a wary step towards him.

"My name does not matter. I am here to warn you."

"Warn me? Nothing interesting ever happens here, let alone anything dangerous… Fine. I'll play along. What is it?"

"This world has been tied to the darkness… Soon to be completely eclipsed."

I glared at him. "That doesn't make any sense-"

"It will happen tonight," he continued.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The door will open. It will take you to the other worlds you long for, if you let it."

"Other worlds?! How do you know… ?"

"I know many things," the man said coolly. "Be prepared for the storm. The darkness is coming- embrace it." And with that, he turned his back to me and ducked into the secret place.

"Hey! I'm not letting you go that easily!" I followed him, but he had disappeared.

I watched the storm outside my window. Brilliant flashes of lightning arced through the air and the trees shook, lashed by rain and wind. The sky was a violent shade of deep purple.

Waitaminute… purple? Since when was the sky ever purple other than at sunset and sunrise?

_Be prepared for the storm._

I couldn't shake the hooded man's words from my head. It just felt like there was some strange importance to them…

Then I noticed the swirling mass of black-and-purple… something in the sky.

_Dark energy._ A name for whatever it was formed in my mind.

_The darkness is coming…_

I had to know what was going on. I ran downstairs and out the door, not even bothering to grab my windbreaker.

"What do you think you're doing, young man?"

"No time to explain, Mom. I gotta go."

"Riku! You get back here-"

I shut the door.

I ran to the dock to find that Kairi's boat was gone. She must have gone to the playground island… it seemed the logical place for me to go now, too. I jumped into my boat and rowed furiously towards the smaller island, ignoring the chill wind and the rain that stung my eyes. I wasn't even worried about the lightning. It wouldn't hit me.

I hurriedly tied up my boat at the dock. The beach was swarming with strange black creatures, looking rather like cuddly bugs, with creepy glowing yellow eyes.

_Shadows._

Most of them completely ignored me, though a couple swiped at my ankles as I ran by. A door, white with fancy trim, had appeared where the entrance to the secret place was.

"What the hell…?" I approached the door.

_No. Go to the paopu island._

I could almost hear the hooded man. I stayed where I was, looking around for him.

_Go now!_

But his voice was in my mind…

"Get out of my head!" I yelled, not caring if anyone heard. "You're freaking me out!"

The Shadows gathered around me, trying to bite my pants. I kicked one, then turned and dashed towards the paopu island. The Shadows didn't follow me as I splashed into the freezing water, waded around the side of the chunk of land, and climbed the ladder.

And I waited for something to happen. I saw Kairi, looking terrified, run to the door and I called out to her, but she didn't hear me. She flung the door open and ran through, escaping a band of Shadows that was pursuing her.

Sora arrived last, as usual. He swatted at the Shadows attacking him with his toy sword, but it had no effect. He ran to the door, found it wouldn't open, and looking frantically around for somewhere to hide from the Shadows, saw me. He rushed into the little shack next to the waterfall, up the stairs, and across the bridge to the little island where I waited.

"Where's Kairi? I thought she was with you!" "The door has opened..." I wasn't sure what I was saying; the words escaped from me without thought.

"What?" Unsurprisingly, Sora was completely confused.

"The door has opened, Sora!" I repeated. "Now we can go to the outside world!"

"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kairi!" Sora said urgently.

"Kairi's coming with us! Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance." I didn't know where this was coming from… like the dark energy and the Shadows, I just knew. "We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

A pool of dark energy formed around our feet, shadowy tendrils grabbing at our feet.

"Riku!"

I held out my hand. He reached for it as the dark clouds engulfed us completely.

And then… nothing.

A/N: As you can see, I edited this. Didn't want anyone crying "Mary Sue!" at a minor OC. Besides, even if Jenna does appear in any other fics besides Of Romance And Stuffed Crust Pizza, she won't have a very big role.


	3. Awakening

Authoress's notes: Well, anonymous reviewer, you convinced me to get my butt in gear. Sadly, I was still stuck… but just to let you all know, I DO intend to see this fic through. I'm just having a difficult time writing it.

Something was sitting next to me, squeaking annoyingly at me like an oversized rat.

"Go away," I mumbled. "I'll wake up when I'm damn well ready, thank you."

The thing stayed there, squeaking a bit more insistently.

"I said go _away_." That one kid at the island, a few houses down from me- he was always capturing the weirdest animals and trying to keep them as pets. One of them must have escaped again.

The thing responded by biting my nose.

"OW!" My eyes snapped open, and I found myself staring into a pair of huge, glowing, yellow eyes… just like the eyes of those bug things that tried to attack me on the island. The creature itself looked a little different, though: taller, much less cutesy-looking, the antennae replaced by long ears. It gave another annoying squeak, vaguely pleased-sounding this time, and bounded off.

I slowly got to my feet and looked around at my surroundings. Where the hell was I? This definitely wasn't the island; it was… blue, and cold, with waterfalls that were flowing upward. I had woken up just underneath a crumbling archway, on a chunk of tiled stone that seemed to be floating in midair. Damn. This world defied physics. _This world…_ I was in another world!

And I was alone.

"Kairi! Sora! Where are you?"

No answer. Only echoes.

I climbed up the icy, light blue rocks, nearly slipping a couple times. It didn't take all that long to reach the top. I could see a huge castle in the distance. Half of it was a marbled light peach color, the other half copper, but that was all I could tell from where I was. In front of me was a large green-and-gold circular platform. Gold-colored bars curved upward from the edges, making it look sort of like a fancy birdcage. I stepped towards it, there was a flash of light, and suddenly I was standing right in the middle of it. The platform shuddered, then started moving upward, like it was on some sort of invisible cable.

I watched in awe as I got closer to the castle. There was a weird symbol carved into the front of it: a stylized heart with a cross over it. The copper half of the castle looked like it was made of pipes or something, while the peach half was normal stone.

The platform stopped at a balcony in front of the castle gates. I stepped off onto the marble tiles, and the platform drifted back down to the rising falls. I approached the castle gates, somewhat cautiously; there didn't appear to be any guards, but I wasn't taking my chances in a strange place. And "strange" described this world perfectly.

I was right to be cautious. Just as I reached the huge doors, a creature materialized out of a cloud of darkness. This one was humanlike in shape; it wore blue-and-purple armor, and carried a large shield with an animal face on it. The visor on the thing's helm wasn't down, but its face was in shadow; all I could see of its face was its eyes, which had no pupils and glowed eerie yellow: just like those of the Shadows.

Then its shield snarled at me.

"What the hell?!" I took a step backward and drew my sword, glad it was still with me. It was a child's toy, unlikely to be of any use against the… whatever the heck this thing was; but I felt better having some sort of weapon. I got into my fighting stance. The monster flicked the visor on its helm down.

Then, the double doors opened. Someone stood in the doorway.

"Flare," she- the voice was definitely female- said quietly.

I jumped back as a burst of flame shot up from the ground beneath the monster's feet. When the fire subsided, the monster was nowhere to be seen.

"Thank you," I said.

She said nothing, but gestured for me to come inside.

The castle doors shut behind me; they swung back into place slowly, so they didn't make much noise. The room we were in was pretty large; two sweeping staircases led up to the second level of the room. Between the staircases was a small fountain; it didn't appear to be working.

"Welcome to Hollow Bastion," the woman said.

"That's the name of this world?"

"Yes."

"Um… who are you?"

"My name is Maleficent." Weird name, but it suited her. She looked like either an evil witch from the bedtime stories Mom told me when I was little, or a zombie (her skin practically looked green!). This lady was _creepy_- but I had to admit she did just save my life. "I am the… substitute ruler of this castle, I suppose you could say." She paused. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully.

"Hmm." She frowned. "Nothing?"

"There was a storm, and I got sucked into this pool of dark stuff. Then I woke up here."

"Interesting. Very… interesting." She started to walk away.

"Hey, hang on a second!"

"What?"

"Has anyone else shown up here lately?"

"No." She walked up the stairs; I was surprised she didn't trip on her robes- she didn't bother to hike them up or anything.

I followed her. "But- I need to find my friends. I thought they'd have come with me."

She didn't even turn around. "There may be a way. I don't think you'll like it, though."

A/N: I think I'll cut it off at a cliffhanger right there. Sorry for making you wait so long for such a short chapter, but it's a good stopping point and I'm not sure what to do next.  
 Maleficent is hard to write.  
See you next chapter!


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